1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an assembly. The present invention further relates to a component for an assembly. The present invention still further relates to a method of manufacturing an assembly.
2. Related Art
An electro-physical transducer is defined herein as a device that converts an electrical signal into a physical phenomenon, or that converts a physical phenomenon into an electrical signal. Examples of the first are electro-luminescent devices, electro-acoustic devices, and electro-chrome devices. Examples of the second are photovoltaic devices, acoustic sensors, and touch sensors.
First stretchable substrate materials are available (e.g. Belgian-funded SWEET project or the EU-funded STELLA project). There is a need to assemble electro-physical transducer devices with such stretchable materials. Usually such elements themselves however are not stretchable. Electro-optical devices are known that are manufactured in the form of a flexible foil. Although this allows certain degrees of freedom it is still not possible to deform such devices into arbitrary shapes, for example in the form of a spherical shape. It may be considered to manufacture such devices into a particular predetermined shape for example by successively depositing layers onto a mold having the desired shape. However, this does not result in a product that is deformable during use.
Accordingly there is a need for means that enable assembly of relatively non-stretchable electro-physical transducer devices with a stretchable carrier, so that the assembly as a whole is a product that can be arbitrarily deformed during use. This need for example arises in medical applications wherein, for example in applications using photon radiation for treatment of the human skin. Another example is in robotics, wherein it is desired to have a touch sensitive function in an artificial skin, having a deformable shape. Also for application on static surfaces it is desirable to be capable of deforming the product, for example to apply the product on a certain three dimensional object, e.g. as a coverage of furniture or car interiors for example.
It is noted that WO/2009/134127 describes a composite microphone that comprises a flexible and stretchable substrate with a grid of flexible and stretchable first and second conductors. The first conductors are arranged transverse to the second conductors. A plurality of acoustic sensors is each in connection with a respective pair of conductors in the grid. The substrate carrying the acoustic sensors can be arranged upon arbitrary shaped surfaces, for example on a hemispheric surface, therewith obtaining a microphone that is sensitive in a large spatial angle.
Due to the mechanical coupling of the acoustic sensors with the stretchable substrate, the substrate is somehow restricted in its degrees of movement by the acoustic sensors. The restriction can be modest, as it is not required that the acoustic sensors cover a substantial portion of the surface area of the stretchable substrate. However, for example when electroluminescent elements are applied as the electro-physical transducer, it may be desired that the surface area is substantially covered to have a sufficiently large light-emitting area.